Can a chance conversation capture the story of an entire technology movement?

While walking through the exhibition halls at AI Everything MEA in Cairo, I had just stepped off stage after moderating a panel when someone approached me. Alaa Ali Kortoma, a Senior Frontend Developer at Capgemini, simply wanted to say hello and ask for a quick photo. What followed was an unexpected conversation about hackathons, mentoring, women in technology, and the excitement of seeing Egypt host one of the region's most ambitious AI gatherings.

Within minutes, I knew this was a conversation worth sharing, and what began as an informal chat became Alaa's first podcast appearance.

In this episode of Conversations from the Show Floor, Alaa shares her perspective on what it means to build a technology career in Egypt at a time when artificial intelli ...